DRW50

Do you have any idea of when this close was?

From the December 1976 Daytime TV. The second page has the top cut off - the line says "A love of humor and fun things like"

From the December 1976 Daytime TV.

September 1977 Daylight TV.

Thanks for reading. I hope I didn't kill off any conversation. I'd also love to see more...I think I have one or two others around somewhere but not the way that a lot of fans do.

From the June 12, 1990 Digest (News America Publishing), an interview with a favorite of juniorz's and mine.

This is Marcy Walker and A Martinez starting around 8:40, isn't it? They sure went to a lot of trouble to announce a channel move. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIEV6iRbv0U

That was New Day in Eden.

Also from this issue, an interview with Jacqueline Babbin, known mostly for her AMC work. I know this has all been asked and answered before, but anyway - how long was she producer of Loving? What were the changes she made, and do you think they were good or bad?

From the September/October 1990 issue.

From the March/April 1992 Episodes, ABC's in-house soap magazine.

What I want to know if why there wasn't outrage over stuff like Lauren running over Max? It's just double standards. This story did at least show one family grieving from cot death without any baby stealing. There are so many sick, lazy stories on British soaps, really trashy stuff, yet none of those get any criticism, but this one does. It's very annoying to me, and while I can see that some people are genuinely upset, so much else of this seems like people who hate the BBC/Eastenders/Kirkwood just using it as an opportunity. And if this means more stories like "Who's the Daddy?" or gruesome mysteries, then British soaps will ultimately lose viewers.

The August 6, 1982 Digest (Network Publishing Co).

I think Kirkwood will go. There's been a lot of anger towards him for a long time on some of the message boards, and if this controversy continues he will be seen as an easy choice. I don't think John Yorke will go too, as some are suggesting, but I'm sure he must be very bewildered by all of this. I'm still bewildered too. Far more offensive stories have never gotten protest. I just wonder what we will now see onscreen in place of this story. Is it going to be a return to last February and March when they had to fill gaps with crap like the stolen post? I say just let a few characters like Kim take up half the episodes with some fun moments - let them improvise if they have to. I think even last year had a fair amount of instability, but certainly the last few months have been crazy. I think Collinson is probably very safe, as much as I might complain about him - no one has criticized him and the ratings are good.

Yes I do. Frankly, if he's still employed by the end of next week, I will be surprised. You may remember that when the hiring was announced, I wasn't sure of Kirkwood, because I had a whole lot of issues with Hollyoaks in 2008. But I was willing to give him a chance, and I think he's done a good job - sometimes a big mess but sometimes brilliant. Many people seemed to write Kirkwood off from before he even started, blaming him for the teens, blaming him for Barbara Windsor leaving. And it has kept on since then. On DS for weeks and weeks you had the same few posters constantly starting threads about how he had ruined the show and was terrible and he had to go. Every decision at Eastenders, even those that probably had little to do with him, like Melissa Suffield's firing, was placed at his feet. There was even a tizzy when he didn't appear on a morning talk show. There has been a feeding frenzy attitude towards Kirkwood all along and this has just blown the whole thing up. I just cringe when I read the "Bring Santer back, he's a brilliant producer and that's what this show needs." Save Eastenders, Diedrick! and so on. Santer is a big reason the show had the very messy 2010 that it did and he also helped pave the way for the shock value stories that are only now suddenly generating controversy. He was also a big part of setting up the Ronnie pattern that the show is only now getting criticism for. Yet he is deified at every turn.

I think if it was up to them he'd have stayed forever. But I think he was right to leave. He seems to want a long-term career outside of soaps, and beyond that, although this probably didn't have to do with his decision, the material for Graeme over the last year has been poor. There are a lot of characters Collinson doesn't seem to get, and Graeme is one of them. Michelle Keegan is very talented but I wouldn't be too sad if she left with him. They ruined her character, and putting her in the Rovers to be stuck up and rude is an odd idea after she's already been written as rude for months and months. They have drained her of any life. In other news, Kym Marsh is taking her maternity leave four months earlier than anticipated. She wants to make sure the baby is going to be OK. I can understand her reasoning and I hope everything turns out well for her and Jamie Lomas. I think Michelle was supposed to have some sort of new romance, but I guess that won't happen now. It is now running on two full years since she last had a storyline (the thing with Peter and Luke Strong). I wonder when Corrie might eventually realize that they don't need Michelle.

I think of all the characters Marquess actually wrote out and who didn't leave of their own choice the only two who should have stayed were Michaela and Zak. I would also say Dave, but I'm not sure if he was fired. I would have said Charlotte but Marquess said she wanted to leave. I have mixed feelings about Dom - I don't miss him a lot but I hated his exit. The new characters are a problem though. People love Brendan and to a lesser degree Jason so much that it's easier to ignore just how flat, and in the case of the O'Connor's, soul-sucking many of these new characters are.

Beth became a real bitch, although that seemed to suit Beth Chamberlin. Her best scenes were with Ben Warren, that was such a complex relationship. Unfortunately the show did not want to commit to that and Ben was sucked into the Carmen and Santos orbit while Matt and Beth had that awful stuff about Beth telling Vanessa to get plastic surgery (Maeve Kinkead, of all people...have you seen that face?), then the boring Beth/Jim. Lillian could be a very self-righteous cow, especially in the mid/late 90s; I remember those bizarre scenes, which, as you mention, Mitch, showed McTavish didn't get history, when Lillian and Vanessa sat around with Annie, trashing Reva. Lillian was the last person who should be passing judgment on anyone for breaking up a marriage.

Those are great ideas. The show uses Myra better than Lucy Allan did but they could still do more with her. At DS someone said they spoke to a Daily Star reporter or editor on Twitter and that they told them Marquess was fired. Given the huge expense that must have been incurred with all the reshoots I guess that could be true. I've heard some fans say it was worth it, but really, why cast the Sharpes in the first place? You could see how shockingly bad Amber was from the start. And were they they much worse than other dud characters? I don't think they were. If the reshoots were for the Warren/Mandy return that was an even bigger mistake. I also hope that we might start getting long-term building of couples. Nancy/Darren and Rhys/Jacqui were so sudden and it's still jarring, and Rhys/Jacqui in particular don't work for me.

Could Tina have meant the writers who after Phillip's 1996 return, said Beth was now with another man? I liked Harley and Phillip at first but then it became a real energy drain, Harley lost all her spirit and life and humor and Phillip judged her too much. They also had this "wacky" theme that played in every scene, it drove me crazy. That's surprising about Alex and Sally. I never knew that. I guess I can see why that bothered Beverlee less than the JFP stuff because with JFP Alex just became a crazy and obsessive old lady. Did you enjoy the Sonni/Alex friendship? That seems so unique to me, compared to most of Alex's relationships.

Yes, if you're going to give that story to someone, why not Myra, instead of the odious Cheryl? I know she behaved unprofessionally but I wish they could also get Hollie Jay Bowes back as Michaela, along with Zak. Kent Riley is such an underrated actor and deserved better.

Thanks GLNo1 for the dates - I wish I had been as quick to save things and remember dates when I started watching GL. Mitch, how did Alex let Sally die? I always thought Sally had some heart condition or something and she died when she was going to let everyone know that Marah was Josh's daughter. What did you both think of Sonni/Solita?

Well Sonia came back

They might have had John say that because they know so many have issues with Bryan Kirkwood and they wanted this to seem more official.